1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus, and more particularly to a medical inspection apparatus capable of having its inclination and height regulated and providing three-ended support for an inspected person.
2. Related Art
After entering the 21st century, the national income is increasing and the living standard of the people is rising. However, with the transition of the cultural and living background, the environment, and the society, the incidence of cancer, especially the breast cancer, grows every year and the affected group of people tends to be younger. Thus, it is extremely important to use sophisticated imaging instruments and facilities to discover the breast cancer at the early stage and arrange for appropriate treatment to increase the cure rate, thereby saving the medical resources and reducing the social cost. In the prior art, the breast image examination and evaluation can be implemented by using the following technologies such as mammography, sonography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and nuclear medicine (positron or single photon) computer tomography imaging. These technologies assist the physicians in diagnosis and evaluation, so as to increase the probability of discovering the breast diseases and to provide correct treatment.
The current inspection apparatuses are classified into standing-type, sitting-type, and lying-type apparatuses. No matter which type of the inspection apparatus is used, the inspected person may feel uncomfortable as the body pressure is concentrated on one side after keeping a gesture for a long time during the inspection, so that the inspected person needs to move from time to time to relieve the body pressure, which may result in an undesirable breast image and cause problems like error interpretation. Moreover, the structure of the standing-type apparatus has a high center of gravity and thus needs to be fixed on the ground; while the structure of the lying-type apparatus needs to be equipped with a platform for supporting the inspected person, and thus has a large volume and is inconvenient to move, so that the inspected person needs to go to the medical institution for inspection, and these types of inspection apparatuses are difficult to be promoted.
In addition, when the standing-type or sitting-type apparatus is used, the breast of the inspected person is placed on an inspection surface, so that it is difficult to position and concentrate the breast, and dead space exist in the inspection of breast tissues close to the chest wall, which is easy to miss lesions. When the lying-type apparatus is used, the inspected person needs to lie on the support platform, and the platform bears the weight of the whole body. As it is specified in the medical safety regulations that the load mechanical strength needs to reach a safety factor 4 (taking a platform load of 200 kg for example, the safety factor 4 means a load of 800 kg), the support plate is made much thicker, and the inspection range is reduced, which affects the correctness of the inspection result.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,390 B1 “FOLDING MAMMOGRAPHY TABLE AND METHOD OF USE” discloses a folding table used in a breast inspection apparatus. The table includes an upper base and a lower base, a mechanism capable of adjusting the height of the upper base over the lower base to accommodate an inspected person, and a mechanism capable of folding the upper base down to a horizontal position However, this technology does not provide any support for the lower half of the body of the inspected person, and the inspected person needs to stand on his/her own feet, which is rather inconvenient for those with limited activity, for example, the handicapped or the palsied.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,552 “SONOGRAPHY AND BIOPSY APPARATUS” also discloses a breast inspection apparatus, which includes an inclinable inspection module and a base for supporting an inspected person. Although the apparatus provides a support base to support the inspected person, the support mode is not three-ended support, and thus when the inclination of the inspection apparatus is regulated, the inspected person, for example, the handicapped or the palsied, may fall from the base for lack of support due to the weak legs.